“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall if be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13
I heard a story of a little boy who one day asked his mother, “Mother, would you give me a dollar if I’ll be a good boy?” She replied, “Son, why don’t you be good for nothing like your father!” You know, there are a lot of Christians who could be considered that way. They are good for nothing.
Jesus said they are like salt that’s lost its savor. They are cast out. They are good for nothing but to be trodden under the foot of men.
Why did Jesus use this particular figure of speech in calling them salt? We need to look at the significance of salt in Jesus time to understand. If it’s important in our time, how much more important was it in Jesus time.
In that society, often times pure salt was more valuable than gold. As a matter of fact pure salt was a rare delicacy and was often a medium of exchange. We get our word salary, from that word. It literally means “salt-money,” hence the expression, “That man is worth his salt.”
Salt was valuable because of what it did. One of the things salt does is cause flavor to come alive. In the book of Job, we read this question, “can that which is unsavory, be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” (Job 6:6) Christians are to give a flavor and a zest to life.
By Adrian Rogers
I heard a story of a little boy who one day asked his mother, “Mother, would you give me a dollar if I’ll be a good boy?” She replied, “Son, why don’t you be good for nothing like your father!” You know, there are a lot of Christians who could be considered that way. They are good for nothing.
Jesus said they are like salt that’s lost its savor. They are cast out. They are good for nothing but to be trodden under the foot of men.
Why did Jesus use this particular figure of speech in calling them salt? We need to look at the significance of salt in Jesus time to understand. If it’s important in our time, how much more important was it in Jesus time.
In that society, often times pure salt was more valuable than gold. As a matter of fact pure salt was a rare delicacy and was often a medium of exchange. We get our word salary, from that word. It literally means “salt-money,” hence the expression, “That man is worth his salt.”
Salt was valuable because of what it did. One of the things salt does is cause flavor to come alive. In the book of Job, we read this question, “can that which is unsavory, be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” (Job 6:6) Christians are to give a flavor and a zest to life.
By Adrian Rogers
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